NOLAbound Applicant Details

In what city do you currently reside?

Kolkata, India

What do you love the most about where you live?

I love that it’s a city on the rise - the population is high, as is the population density, and there are a lot of problems to overcome, but the culture of the city has been maintained and I’m thinking the next 10 years will involve immense growth in the middle class, technology spheres and, if all goes well, sustainability efforts, as well.

In what other cities have you lived?

Columbia (MO), Springfield (MO), Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Christchurch, Bangkok, Reykjavik

What is/was your favorite city and why?

A nearly impossible question to answer! Each is wonderful in a different way. Kind of like being asked to compare exes; you can’t really directly compare them and expect to get a quantifiable answer, because they all meant something different to you at a different point in your life…changing you (hopefully for the better) and being changed by you.

What do you hope to gain from NOLAbound?

I would love to get a closer look at what’s going on in the area and what the near-future holds. New Orleans strikes me as a place with so much opportunity, and I’m curious to see what the innovators in the region are doing with it. Could also lead to some interesting topics and stories to write about!

What is your overall opinion of New Orleans?

I’m blown away by the culture distinctiveness of the area, and fascinated by the transformation that’s going on at the moment. I love the food and the people that I met were all wonderful.

Single most important issue facing New Orleans?

From what I understand, the area is still trying to recover in terms of job opportunities and leveling out the economic disparities, so I would say establishing (and/or stabilizing) the socioeconomic issues will be a key in making sure that the innovations that take place in the area aren’t for naught.

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